MYTHS AND BELIEFS

MYTHS AND BELIEFS !!!

I am a firm believer that knowledge was an expanding horizon of mind and not a bounded geography of beliefs, which only show the limit of human knowledge. As soon as new facts emerge old beliefs get shattered. New knowledge is the product of constant inquiry and experiment . Knowledge comes when one remembers the golden rule that beliefs are meant to be unbelieved.

Today is Krishna Janamasthami—- the day Lord Krishna , supposedly an eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu of Hindu beliefs, was born in a prison cell at Mathura more than 5000 years back. This is a belief, mystified by the fact that his father , Vasudeva had his chains broken at the time of Krishna’s birth and doors of jail cell were thrown wide open. Thus, Krishna was exported out of Jail Cell to Nandgaon. There is another belief that River Yamuna , which was in spate, parted itself to allow Vasudeva to cross it with newly born lord Krishna in a basket over his head.?

I have no disputes with these beliefs . But a number of question do arise in my mind . We all know that the Great War if Mahabharata might have taken place between 3000 years to 5000 years back, as Western and India scholars contest it respectively. Is this war a myth or a belief or even some kind of truth?

Let me just pose one question on the recital of SHRIMAD Bhagvad Gita by Lord Krishna . We are told that the great message was recited by Krishna as a sermon to Arjuna, when the two armies of Kaurava and Pandava were facing each other at the battlefield of Kurukshetra . The story of Mahabharata was narrated by great sage Vyas to Lord Ganesha. The GITA was recited by Charioteer Sanjay to DHRITRASHTRA , the blind father of Kaurava. So you see it is not the original narration but a story narrated by some one of what someone else had narrated.. I am seeking answer to my queries as to where was Great Sage Vyasa when Sanjay was narrating the events at Kurukshetra. Did he hear first hand? Where was Sanjay located ? Was he on the battlefield at Kurukshetra or at Hastinapur ? What was this Divya Drishti which made him see and hear these great words of wisdom?

It is a general belief that when spoken words pass through various hands—- they change their tone and tenor and generally spicy elements get added , changing the whole complexion of original fact. My question is : Could this have happened in this case too?

Once I asked a Swami ji as to where was Charioteer Sanjay located when he was narrating recital of Gita by Lord Krishna ? Swamy ji gave me the the age old stale answer—— DIVYA DRISHTI. I shot back if he was RELAYING what Lord Krishna was supposedly reciting——could this be taken as gospel truth? How much could this be the brainchild of Sanjay’s mind? “ NIL” , the Swami said. I retorted—- were you there ? How could you say with such an authenticity? He gave me no answer—- but said : DO NOT TEMPER WITH BELIEFS. I replied that beliefs restrain the mind from questioning the unquestionable. Knowledge is an expanding genre of mind and not a bounded geography. He got up and walked away saying GHOR KALYUG . My reaction , where logic fails; escapism begins.